Electric delivery truck control system for electric power management

ABSTRACT

An electric delivery truck control system is disclosed. Sensors detect operation parameters associated with the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway. An electric delivery truck control unit detects electric delivery truck control inputs associated with an operation of the electric delivery truck. The electric delivery truck control inputs are generated from an operation of the electric delivery truck. An operation parameter controller automatically adjusts the operation of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation of the electric delivery truck within an operation threshold based on the detected driving parameters and the electric delivery truck control inputs. The operation threshold is the operation of the electric delivery truck that is maintained with an overall power storage of the electric delivery truck thereby enabling the electric delivery truck to execute a route by consuming power stored in the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a U.S. Nonprovisional Application whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/959,548 filedon Jan. 10, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND Field of Disclosure

The present disclosure generally relates to electric delivery trucks andspecifically to an electric control system for electric power managementof the electric delivery truck.

Related Art

Conventional electric delivery truck control systems for electricdelivery trucks that operate on roadways enable the driver of theelectric delivery truck to operate the electric delivery truck as thedriver requests to operate the electric delivery truck without anyintervention. The driver presses the accelerator whenever the driverrequest to accelerate and presses on the brake whenever the driverrequests to brake without any concern as to the electric powerconsumption of the electric delivery truck. The driver of an electricdelivery truck typically executes a delivery route that requires thedriver to execute multiple stops along the delivery route to completeeach of the required deliveries resulting in numerous abruptaccelerations and numerous abrupt brakings throughout the delivery routewhich are then compounded each day that the delivery route is executedwithout any type of intervention.

However, two different drivers may operate identical electric deliverytrucks and maneuver the identical electric delivery trucks alongidentical routes of the identical roadway and be exposed to identicaloperating conditions and travel identical distances. The first drivermay operate the electric delivery truck with significantly less electricpower consumption than the second driver. Despite the identical drivingenvironments, the first driver may operate the electric delivery truckdifferently from the second driver thereby conserving significantly moreelectric power consumption simply based on how the first driver operatesthe electric delivery truck as compared to the second driver.

Any type of adjustment executed by a driver with regard to how thedriver operates the electric delivery truck as the driver maneuvers theelectric delivery truck along the roadway is simply conventionallyexecuted by the natural intelligence of the driver. The first driver hassignificantly less electric power consumption than the second driversimply by the decisions actually executed by the first driver. Forexample, the first driver applies the brake significantly less than thesecond driver who rides the break, the first driver coasts to a stoprather than the second driver abruptly applying to the stop, and thefirst driver accelerates quickly in passing and then cruises to acoasting speed while the first driver slowly accelerates and passes.Such decisions are manually executed by the first driver and results insignificantly less electric power consumption than the decisions of thesecond driver. Thus, any additional decrease in electric powerconsumption is conventionally done by the manual decision making processof the driver and those decisions are not automatically executed by theconventional electric delivery truck control systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numeralsindicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, theleft most digit(s) of a reference number typically identifies thedrawing in which the reference number first appears.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an electric delivery truck controlsystem that may manage the power consumed and/or stored by the electricdelivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates on a roadway;

FIG. 2 illustrates a roadway segment configuration that depicts thegeometry of the roadway changes as the grade of the roadway changes;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an electric delivery truck controlsystem that automatically maintains the operation of the electricdelivery truck within the operation threshold to ensure that the powerconsumed by the electric delivery truck is maintained within the overallpower storage of the electric delivery truck;

FIG. 4 illustrates an electric delivery truck monitoring configurationthat may monitor the operation parameters generated by the execution ofa first delivery route as the electric delivery truck executes thedelivery route;

FIG. 5 illustrates an electric delivery truck monitoring configurationthat may monitor the battery management input of state of charge as wellas the operation parameter of vehicle speed as the electric deliverytruck executes the route; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an electric truck delivery monitoring configurationthat may display to the user via user interface numerous differentoperation parameters that include the battery management inputs as theelectric delivery truck operates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

The following Detailed Description refers to accompanying drawings toillustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.References in the Detailed Description to “one exemplary embodiment,” an“exemplary embodiment,” an “example exemplary embodiment,” etc.,indicate the exemplary embodiment described may include a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplary embodimentmay not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring tothe same exemplary embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic may be described in connection with anexemplary embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in theart(s) to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic inconnection with other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed.

The exemplary embodiments described herein are provided for illustrativepurposes, and are not limiting. Other exemplary embodiments arepossible, and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodimentswithin the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, theDetailed Description is not meant to limit the present disclosure.Rather, the scope of the present disclosure is defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware,firmware, software, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of thepresent disclosure may also be implemented as instructions applied by amachine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by one or moreprocessors. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism forstoring or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine(e.g., a computing device). For example, a machine-readable medium mayinclude read only memory (“ROM”), random access memory (“RAM”), magneticdisk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices,electrical optical, acoustical or other forms of propagated signals(e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), andothers. Further firmware, software routines, and instructions may bedescribed herein as performing certain actions. However, it should beappreciated that such descriptions are merely for convenience and thatsuch actions in fact result from computing devices, processors,controllers, or other devices executing the firmware, software,routines, instructions, etc.

For purposes of this discussion, each of the various componentsdiscussed may be considered a module, and the term “module” shall beunderstood to include at least one software, firmware, and hardware(such as one or more circuit, microchip, or device, or any combinationthereof), and any combination thereof. In addition, it will beunderstood that each module may include one, or more than one, componentwithin an actual device, and each component that forms a part of thedescribed module may function either cooperatively or independently fromany other component forming a part of the module. Conversely, multiplemodules described herein may represent a single component within anactual device. Further, components within a module may be in a singledevice or distributed among multiple devices in a wired or wirelessmanner.

The following Detailed Description of the exemplary embodiments will sofully reveal the general nature of the present disclosure that otherscan, by applying knowledge of those skilled in the relevant art(s),readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such exemplaryembodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, such adaptationsand modifications are intended to be within the meaning and plurality ofequivalents of the exemplary embodiments based upon the teaching andguidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseologyor terminology herein for the purpose of description and not oflimitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the presentspecification is to be interpreted by those skilled in the relevantart(s) in light of the teachings herein.

System Overview

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an electric delivery truck controlsystem that may manage the power consumed and/or stored by the electricdelivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates on a roadway. Anelectric delivery truck control configuration 100 includes an electricdelivery truck 110 that may maneuver along a roadway. The electricdelivery truck 110 is a motorized truck with wheels that is powered byelectric power that is stored in the overall power storage of theelectric delivery truck and maneuvers along the roadway that ispositioned on the ground such that the wheels maintain contact with theroadway as the wheels rotate from the propulsion of a motor and theelectric delivery truck 110 then maneuvers along roadway via therotation of the wheels. For example, the electric delivery truck 110 mayinclude but is not limited to electric trucks with Gross Vehicle WeightRatings (GVWR) in class 3, class 4, class 5 and/or any other electrictrucks included in any other GVWR classifications that will be apparentto those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure.

An operation parameter controller 120 may automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 maneuvers along the roadway. Rather than the driver simplybeing able to operate the electric delivery truck 110 as the driverdesires such as with abrupt accelerations and/or abrupt brakings, theoperation parameter controller 120 may automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 such that the operationparameter controller 120 automatically adjusts the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 such that the electric delivery truck 110operates within an overall power storage of the electric delivery truck110. As the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 dynamicallychanges, the operation parameter controller 120 may automatically adjustthe operation of the electric delivery truck 110 in response to thedynamically changing operation of the electric delivery truck 110 toensure that the electric delivery truck 110 executes a route byconsuming power stored in the overall power storage of the electricdelivery truck 110 without exceeding such overall power storage. Theoverall power storage of the electric delivery truck 110 is the electricpower that is generated and/or stored on board the electric deliverytruck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 operates in a power storagedevice, such as an electric battery storage pack. As the electricdelivery truck 110 operates, the electric delivery truck 110 consumesand/or generates electric power that is stored in the overall powerstorage. The operation parameter controller 120 may then ensure that theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 when executing the route ismaintained to consume the electric power stored in the overall powerstorage device.

The operation parameter controller 120 may automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 based on a plurality ofoperation parameter sensors 130 that detect a plurality of operationparameters that are indicative to operation of the electric deliverytruck 110 is operating and may change dynamically as the electricdelivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway. As the operationparameters detected by the operation parameter sensors 130 change, theoperation parameter controller 120 may automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 to accommodate the dynamicchange in the operation parameters to maintain the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 within the overall power storage of theelectric delivery truck 110. In doing so, enabling the electric deliverytruck 110 to execute the route by consuming power stored in the overallpower storage of the electric delivery truck 110. Often times, theelectric delivery truck 110 may execute a route that requires theelectric delivery truck 110 to execute numerous deliveries during theroute. The operation parameter controller 120 may ensure that theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 ensures that the electricdelivery truck 110 is able to complete the numerous deliveries includedon the route from without having to deplete the power stored in theoverall power storage thereby requiring that the electric delivery truck110 to charge the overall power storage before the completion of theroute.

The operation parameter controller 120 may also automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 based on a plurality ofelectric delivery truck control inputs that are generated from anoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 and may change dynamicallyas the driver operates the electric delivery truck 110 along theroadway. The electric delivery truck control inputs may be detected byan electric delivery truck control unit 140. As the driver of theelectric delivery truck 110 adjusts the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110, the operation parameter controller 120 mayautomatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 toaccommodate the dynamic change in the electric delivery truck controlinputs generated by the driver operating the electric delivery truck 110to thereby ensure that the power consumed by the electric delivery truck110 when executing the route is maintained with the overall powerstorage of the electric delivery truck 110.

The operation parameter controller 120 may automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 within an operation threshold based on thedetected operation parameters and electric delivery truck controlinputs. The operation threshold is the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 that is maintained within an overall power storage ofthe electric delivery truck 110 thereby enabling the electric deliverytruck 110 to execute a route by consuming power stored in the overallpower storage of the electric delivery truck 110.

The operation parameter controller 120 may automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 within the operation threshold of theoverall power storage of the electric delivery truck 110. As theelectric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway, the geometry ofthe roadway may change. The geometry of the roadway are the dimensions,curvature, and/or grade of the roadway. For example, the geometry of theroadway includes but is not limited to the width of the roadway, thequantity of lanes of the roadway, the width of each lane of the roadway,the grade of the roadway, the curvatures of the roadway, and/or anyother type of geometry of the roadway will be apparent to those skilledin the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe disclosure.

As the geometry of the roadway changes, the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 in order to adapt to the change of the geometry ofthe roadway also changes. For example, as shown in a roadway segmentconfiguration 200 as depicted in FIG. 2, the geometry of the roadwaychanges as the grade 230(a-c) of the roadway changes. In such anexample, the operating speed of the electric delivery truck 110 maysignificantly decrease as the driver of the electric delivery truck 110attempts to transition from the flat grade 230 a and to climb to the topgrade 230 b and the electric power drive (A) 220 may then significantlyincrease as the electric delivery truck 110 transitions from the topgrade 230 b to the flat grade 230 c and the operating speed may thenlevel out as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the flatgrade 230 c.

As the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 changes in order toadapt to the change of the geometry of the roadway, the amount ofelectric power drive 220 provided from the overall power storage todrive the electric delivery truck 110 also changes. The amount ofelectric power drive 220 provided from the overall power storage todrive the electric delivery truck 110 to encounter the change of grade230(a-c) in FIG. 2 is different from the amount of electric power drive220 provided from the overall power storage to drive the electricdelivery truck 110 for each change in grade. For example, the electricdelivery truck 110 may steadily increase the amount of electric powerdrive 220 provided from the overall power storage to drive the electricdelivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 attempts tocompensate for the decrease in operating speed as the electric deliverytruck 110 transitions from the flat grade 230 a and to climb to the topgrade 230 b and the amount of electric power drive 220 provided from theoverall power storage to drive the electric delivery truck may thensteadily decrease as the electric delivery truck 110 increases inoperating speed as the electric delivery truck 110 transitions from thetop grade 230 b to the flat grade 230 c.

As noted above, the operation parameter controller 120 may automaticallyadjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 to automaticallyadjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electricdelivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operationof the electric delivery truck 110 within an operation threshold. Theoperation threshold is the operation of the electric delivery truck 110that maintains the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 withinthe overall power storage of the electric delivery truck 110 therebyenabling the electric delivery truck 110 to execute a route by consumingpower stored in the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck110. Rather than simply having power provided by the overall powerstorage to drive the electric delivery truck 110 at a constant powerlevel, the operation parameter controller 120 may automatically adjustthe amount of power provided by the overall power storage to drive theelectric delivery truck 110 to operate within an operation threshold forpower consumed by the electric delivery truck 110 as provided by theelectric power storage.

The adjustment to the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 hasconventionally been implemented by the natural intelligence of thedriver. However, any type of adjustment due to the natural intelligenceof the driver obviously is limited to the natural intelligence of thedriver but also any type of adjustment due to the natural intelligenceof the driver is done by the perception of the driver. For example, adriver with a higher level of natural intelligence may recognize thatcontinuing to press on the accelerator to maintain the operating speedwhen climbing a steep incline may actually have a negative impact on theelectric power consumption of the electric delivery truck 110 asprovided by the overall power storage. However, such a driver maydecrease the amount of pressure on the accelerator simply by the whatthe driver perceives as the appropriate amount of pressure to put on theaccelerator. Such a perception may not be the actual amount ofacceleration to give the electric delivery truck 110 in order todecrease the electric power consumption of the electric delivery truck110 and again is limited to the natural intelligence of the driver andthe driver may not continuously execute the appropriate adjustments tothe operation of the electric delivery truck 110. Thus, the operationparameter controller 120 may significantly decrease the electric powerconsumption of the electric delivery truck 110 by continuously adjustingthe operation of the electric delivery truck 110.

The operation parameter controller 120 may be a device that is capableof electronically communicating with other devices. Examples of theoperation parameter controller 120 may include a mobile telephone, asmartphone, a workstation, a portable computing device, other computingdevices such as a laptop, or a desktop computer, cluster of computers,set-top box, and/or any other suitable electronic device that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure.

In an embodiment, multiple modules may be implemented on the samecomputing device. Such a computing device may include software,firmware, hardware or a combination thereof. Software may include one ormore applications on an operating system. Hardware can include, but isnot limited to, a processor, a memory, and/or graphical user interfacedisplay.

Sensor Detection Configuration

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an electric delivery truck controlsystem that automatically maintains the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 within the operation threshold to ensure that thepower consumed by the electric delivery truck 110 is maintained withinthe overall power storage 365 of the electric delivery truck 110. Anelectric delivery truck control system configuration 300 includes aplurality of sensors that are associated with the electric deliverytruck 110. The sensors include but are not limited to a imaging device340, a global positioning system (GPS) 370, and a control area network(CAN) bus 380. The sensors detect operation parameters associated withthe electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110operates. Additional operation parameters may be detected via theconnection to the network 310. The operation parameter controller 320may then incorporate the operation parameters into the automaticadjustment of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 operates. In doing so, the operation parameter controller 320may adjust the vehicle systems 390 of the electric delivery truck 110.The electric delivery truck control configuration 300 shares manysimilar features with the electric delivery truck control configuration100; therefore, only the differences between the electric delivery truckcontrol configuration 300 and the electric delivery truck controlconfiguration 100 are to be discussed in further detail.

A plurality of sensors, such as but not limited to the imaging device340, the GPS 370, the CAN bus 380, and so on, are associated with theelectric delivery truck 110 that maneuvers along the roadway. Thesensors detect a plurality of operation parameters associated with theelectric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuversalong the roadway. The operation parameters are indicative to anoperating environment that the electric delivery truck 110 is operating.The operation parameters provide insight to the operation parametercontroller 320 as to the how the electric delivery truck 110 iscurrently operating such that the operation parameter controller 320 maythen incorporate the operation parameters into the automatic adjustmentof the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 to account for thecurrent operation of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electricdelivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway.

For example, the operation parameters provide insight as to the currentoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 such as but not limited tothe acceleration of the electric delivery truck 110, braking, wheelspeed, speed of the electric delivery truck 110, and so on. Theoperation parameters may also provide insight as to the current terrainthat the electric delivery truck 110 is operating such as the grade ofthe roadway, the map of the roadway, and so on. The operation parametersmay also provide insight as to the electric power consumption of theelectric delivery truck 110 such as but not limited to the currentvoltage of the drive battery 365, acceleration relative to amount ofAmps being drawn to support the speed of the electric delivery truck110, state of charge of the drive battery 365, the temperature of thedrive battery 365, electric power efficiency of the electric deliverytruck 110 in Miles per Gallon Gasoline Equivalent (MPGe), and so on. Theoperation parameters may include but are not limited to acceleration,deceleration, electric delivery truck speed, wheel speed, position ofthe electric delivery truck, maps, roadway grade, YAW, cabin airtemperature, cabin air pressure, voltage of the drive battery, motoracceleration relative to amount of Amps being drawn, state of charge ofthe drive battery, the temperature of the drive battery, MPGe, and/orany other type of operation parameter that is indicative to theoperation electric delivery truck 110 that will be apparent to thoseskilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure.

The operation parameter controller 320 may then automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 within the operation threshold based on thedetected operation parameters. Each of the numerous operation parametersdetected by the sensors may enable the operation parameter controller320 to automatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck110 to accommodate each of the numerous operation parameters that may beimpacting the operation of the electric delivery truck 110.

Rather than simply having the electric delivery truck 110 operate with aset power level provided by the drive battery 365 to drive the electricdelivery truck 110, the operation parameter controller 320 may identifyeach operation parameter and the corresponding impact of that operationparameter on the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 and thenautomatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110.In doing so, the operation parameter controller 320 may automaticallyadjust the vehicle systems 390 of the electric delivery truck 110. Thevehicle systems 390 are the systems of the electric delivery truck 110that when adjusted trigger the electric delivery truck 110 to operateaccordingly. For example, the vehicle systems 390 may include but arenot limited to the engine controller, brakes, steering, and/or any othertype of system of the electric delivery truck 110 that trigger theelectric delivery truck 110 to operate.

The imaging device 340 detects a plurality of visual detection operationparameters that are associated with the electric delivery truck 110 asthe electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway. The visualdetection operation parameters are operation parameters that arevisually identifiable as detected by the imaging device 340 and areindicative to the operation of the electric delivery truck 110. The roadlooking camera 340, may detect numerous visual detection operationparameters that impact the operation of the electric delivery truck 110as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway. Thevisual detection operation parameters of the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 may include tangible characteristics of the operationof the electric delivery truck 110 that may be visually detected and/oridentified by the imaging device 340 such that the driver is notrequired to visually detect such visual detection operation parameters.Such visual detection operation parameters may provide the operationparameter controller 320 with the insight as to the tangible and/orvisually identifiable aspects of the operation of the electric deliverytruck 110.

The operation parameter controller 320 may then identify the visualdetection operation parameters as detected by the imaging device 340 inreal-time as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along theroadway. The operation parameter controller 320 may determine an impactthat each of the visual detection operation parameters are having on theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110. The operation parametercontroller 320 may automatically adjust the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers alongthe roadway to maintain the operation of the electric delivery truck 110within the operation threshold to accommodate for each of the visualdetection operation parameters as each visual detection drivingparameter impacts the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 inreal-time.

The imaging device 340 may also identify the geometry of the roadwaybased on the width of the roadway, the amount of lanes of the roadway,as well as provide real-time updates as to the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 relative to the operating lines of the roadway todetermine whether the electric delivery truck 110 is operating withinthe operating lines and/or moving across the operating lines. Suchoperation parameters provided by the imaging device 340 may enable theoperation parameter controller 320 to determine whether the electricdelivery truck 110 is safely operating within the operating lines of theroadway.

For example, the operation parameter controller 320 may identify aposition of the electric delivery truck 110 as detected by the imagingdevice 340 in real-time relative to a lane included in the roadway thatthe electric delivery truck 110 is maneuvering. The operation parametercontroller 320 may then determine when the position of the electricdelivery truck 110 deviates beyond a lane center threshold in real-time.The lane center threshold is the position of the electric delivery truck110 relative to a center position of the lane that when deviated beyondis indicative that the position of the electric delivery truck 110 isdeviating from the lane that the electric delivery truck 110 ismaneuvering. The operation parameter controller 110 may thenautomatically alert the driver that the position of the electricdelivery truck 110 is deviated beyond the lane center thresholdindicating to the driver that the driver is to adjust the position ofthe electric delivery truck 110 to be within the lane center threshold.

The operation parameter controller 320 may also identify an objectpositioned in a drive path of the electric delivery truck 110 as theelectric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway. The electricdelivery truck 110 may then instruct an electric motor 375 included inthe electric delivery truck 110 to transition from operating in a drivemode to a reverse mode to thereby transition the electric motor 375 fromoperating as the electric motor 375 to operating as an electricgenerator in response to the identification of the object positioned inthe drive path. The operation parameter controller 320 may thenautomatically decrease the speed of the electric delivery truck 110 dueto the electric motor 375 removing power that is available to acceleratethe electric delivery truck 110 to storing the captured power in theoverall power storage 365 of the electric delivery truck 110 therebytriggering the speed of the electric delivery truck 110 to automaticallydecrease. The automatic decrease in speed enables a driver of theelectric delivery truck 110 to avoid the object positioned in the drivepath of the electric delivery truck 110. The imaging device 340 maydetect and provide any type of visual detection operation parameter tothe operation parameter controller 320 that may enable the operationparameter controller 320 to automatically adjust the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 to account for the impact of the visualdetection operation parameter detected by the imaging device that willbe apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Electric Delivery Truck Monitoring Configuration

An electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may monitor theelectric delivery truck 110 as well as the numerous operation parametersassociated with the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 operates as the electric delivery truck 110 executes theroute. The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may thenprovide insight as to the operation of the electric delivery truck 110in that the operation parameters monitored by the electric deliverytruck 110 by the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 mayprovide insight as to how the operation of the electric delivery truck110 may be optimized to increase the MPGe of the electric delivery truck110 as the electric delivery truck 110 executes the route. In doing so,the operation parameter controller 320 may then adjust the operation ofthe electric delivery truck 110 based on the monitored operationparameters to increase the MPGe of the electric delivery truck 110thereby optimizing the amount of power that is consumed by the electricdelivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 executes theroute.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may monitor thenumerous operation parameters as detected by the electric delivery truckcontrol unit 335 and detected by the numerous sensors as well as thenumerous operation parameters that are provided via the CAN bus 380 ofthe electric delivery truck 110. The electric delivery truck monitoringsystem 315 may access the CAN bus 380 via the operation parametercontroller 320 and thereby monitor the numerous operation parameterparameters provided via the CAN bus 380 from the network 310. In doingso, as the operation parameters are generated and/or adjusted during theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110, the electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may monitor the operation parameters inreal-time via the network 315. Real-time is the monitoring of operationparameters as the operation parameters are generated during the currentstate of the electric delivery truck 110. Real-time is also themonitoring of operation parameters that are updated during periodic timeintervals and provided to the electric delivery truck monitoring system315 via the network 310 after each time interval is concluded.

In doing so, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 mayassist the operation parameter controller 320 in adjusting the operationof the electric delivery truck 110 to increase the MPGe of the electricdelivery truck when executing the route and thereby optimize the amountof power that is consumed by the electric delivery truck 110. Inaddition to monitoring the operation parameters as the electric deliverytruck 110 operates, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315may also analyze past operation parameters generated by the electricdelivery truck 110 when executing the route. Thus, the electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may assist the operation parametercontroller 320 in adjusting the operation of the electric delivery truck110 based on not only the operation parameters generated by the electricdelivery truck 110 during the execution of the current route but alsothe operation of the electric delivery truck 110 executed during theexecution of past routes.

For example, as shown in the electric delivery truck monitoringconfiguration 400 depicted in FIG. 4, the electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 may monitor the operation parameters generated bythe execution of a first delivery route 410 as the electric deliverytruck 110 executes the first delivery route 410. The electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may also monitor and store the operationparameters generated for each past execution of the first delivery route410 by the electric delivery truck 110. In doing so, the electricdelivery truck monitoring system 315 may incorporate the operationparameters generated by the execution of the first delivery route 410 asthe electric delivery truck 110 executes the first delivery route 410but also may incorporate the operation parameters generated by pastexecutions of the first delivery route 410. Thus, in assisting theoperation parameter controller 320 in adjusting the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 executesthe first delivery route 410 increases the MPGe of the electric deliverytruck 110 when executing the first delivery route 410.

In optimizing the amount of power that is consumed by the electricdelivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 executes theroute, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may monitornumerous operation parameters associated with the electric deliverytruck 110 executing the route and/or executing past routes that areindicative as to the power consumed by the electric delivery truck 110when executing the route and/or past executions of the route. Themonitoring of such operation parameters may be associated with the powerefficiency generated by the operation of the electric delivery truck 110when executing the route and/or past routes. In doing so, the electricdelivery truck monitoring system 315 may monitor operation parametersthat include battery management inputs that are detected by the batterymanagement unit 385 and provided to the electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 via the CAN bus 380 and streamed to the electricdelivery truck monitoring system 315 via the network 310. The batterymanagement inputs are generated from a consumption of power from theoverall power storage 365 of the electric delivery truck 110 as theelectric delivery truck 110 operates. Thus, the electric deliverymonitoring system 315 may assist the operation parameter controller 320in adjusting the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 based onnot only the operation parameters generated by the electric deliverytruck 110 during the execution of the current route but also theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 executed during theexecution of past routes.

For example, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 maymonitor the battery management input of the voltage of the drive battery365 via the battery management unit 385 as the electric delivery truck110 operates to execute the route as well as the voltage of the drivebattery 365 during past executions of the route. The voltage of thedrive battery 365 may initiate at a first voltage value when theelectric delivery truck 110 initiates the execution of the route. Forexample, the first voltage value when the electric delivery truck 110initiates execution of the route is 4.1V. However, as the electricdelivery truck 110 executes the route, the inverter 360 may pull DCpower from the drive battery 365 and convert to AC power to drive themotor 375 during execution of the route. In doing so, the inverter 360may not be converting AC generated from the motor 375 acting as aregenerator during the execution of the route to convert to DC powerthat is then stored in the drive battery 365 to equate to the amount ofDC power pulled from the drive battery 365 that is converted to AC powerto adequately drive the motor 375 during the execution of the route.Thus, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may determinethat the voltage of the drive battery 365 has decreased from 4.1V to the3.2V during the execution of the route.

The voltage of the drive battery 365 enables the electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 to determine the state of charge of the drivebattery 365. The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may thenprovide a range of the state of charge of the drive battery 365 as theelectric delivery truck 110 operates to execute the route. For example,the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may determine theelectric charge of the drive battery 365 when the electric deliverytruck 110 initiates the execution of the route and then continues todetermine the electric charge of the drive battery 365 as the electricdelivery truck 110 executes the route. In such an example, the electricdelivery truck monitoring system 315 may determine from the voltage ofthe drive battery 365 when the electric truck 110 initiates theexecution of the route is 52% based on the voltage of 4.1V of the drivebattery 365 and then the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315may determine from the decreased voltage 3.2V of the drive battery whenthe electric truck 110 completes the execution of the route is 48%thereby providing a range of electric charge of the drive battery 365during the execution of the route as ranging from 52% to 48%.

The voltage of the drive battery 365 also enables the electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 to determine the kWh of power storageavailable in the drive battery 365 as the electric delivery truck 110operates to execute the route. The drive battery 365 may have an initialmaximum capacity of power storage available upon being fully chargedbefore the electric delivery truck 110 initiates the execution of theroute. As the amount of DC power that is pulled from the drive battery365 by the inverter 360 and converted to AC power to drive the motor 375without regenerating the power to then be stored by the drive battery365 during operation of the electric delivery truck 110, the amount ofpower storage of the drive battery 365 may decrease. Based on thedecrease in voltage of the drive battery 365 that corresponds to thedecrease in power storage, the electric delivery truck monitoring system315 may determine the amount of kWh of power storage remaining in thedrive battery 365 as the electric delivery truck 110 executes the route.

The amount of kWh of power storage available in the drive battery 365 asthe electric delivery truck 110 operates to execute the route to enablethe electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 to determine the MPGeof the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110operates to execute the route. The MPGe of the electric delivery truck110 may provide insight as to the electric power efficiency of theelectric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 operates.The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may then assist theoperation parameter controller 320 as to automatically adjusting theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck operates based on the MPGe of the electric delivery truck 110. Indoing so, the operation parameter controller 320 may automaticallyadjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 to increase theMPGe of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck110 executes the route thereby optimizing the amount of power that isconsumed by the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 executes the route.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 in assisting theoperation parameter controller 320 in automatically adjusting theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110, the battery managementunit 385 associated with the electric delivery truck 110 may detectbattery management inputs associated with an overall battery efficiencyof the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110maneuvers along the roadway. The battery management inputs are generatedfrom a consumption of power from the overall power storage 365 of theelectric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 operates.The operation parameter controller 320 may then automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck control inputs as the electricdelivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operationof the electric delivery truck 110 within the operation threshold basedon the detected battery management inputs and the electric deliverytruck control inputs. In doing so, the overall battery efficiency of theelectric delivery truck 110 is increased when executing the route byconsuming power stored in the overall power storage 365 of the electricdelivery truck 110.

For example, the electric delivery truck control unit 335 may detect anadjusted acceleration that corresponds to an adjusted position of theaccelerator pedal 355 based on the driver attempting to increase acurrent acceleration with an adjusted position of the accelerationpedal. The operation parameter controller 320 may then determine whetherthe adjusted acceleration that corresponds to the adjusted position ofthe accelerator pedal 355 exceeds an acceleration threshold. Theacceleration threshold when exceeded is indicative that the driver isattempting to increase the current acceleration in a decreased durationthat is detrimental to operation of the electric delivery truck 110. Theoperation parameter controller 320 may then automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 to map a gradualacceleration that limits the increase in the current acceleration to anincreased duration that maintains the adjusted acceleration within theacceleration threshold that is not detrimental to the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110.

In such an example, the natural intelligence of the driver may triggerthe driver to significantly press on the accelerator pedal 355 abruptlyin order to accelerate quickly. The natural intelligence of the drivermay then trigger the driver to significantly press on the brake pedalabruptly in order to decelerate quickly. The natural intelligence of thedriver may then trigger the driver to continually repeat the significantpressing on the accelerator pedal 355 abruptly to accelerate quicklywhile significantly pressing on the brake pedal to abruptly stopthroughout the execution of the route by the electric delivery truck110. In doing so, the MPGe of the electric delivery truck 110 whenexecuting the route is significantly impacted and decreases as well asthe electric delivery truck 110 suffers unnecessary wear and tear duethe abrupt accelerating and braking.

As shown in the electric delivery truck monitoring configuration 500depicted in FIG. 5, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315may monitor the battery management input of state of charge 520 as wellas the operation parameter 510 of vehicle speed as the electric deliverytruck 110 executes the route. As shown in FIG. 5, the naturalintelligence of the driver triggers the driver to significantly press onthe accelerator pedal 355 thereby accelerating abruptly 530 and then thenatural intelligence of the driver triggers the driver to significantlypress on the brake pedal thereby braking abruptly 540. Corresponding toabrupt acceleration 530 and the abrupt braking 540, the state of charge520 decreases from 52% state of charge 580 to 50% state of charge 560.As the natural intelligence of the driver triggers the drive to continueto abruptly accelerate and abruptly brake throughout the route, thestate of charge continues to decrease down to 48% state of charge 570.Thus, the abrupt acceleration and abrupt braking triggered by thenatural intelligence of the driver significantly impacts the MPGe of theelectric delivery truck 110 when executing the route.

The operation parameter controller 320 may monitor the adjusted positionof the accelerator pedal 355 to determine when the adjusted position ofthe accelerator pedal 355 corresponds to an adjusted acceleration thatexceeds the acceleration threshold that is indicative that the abruptacceleration attempted by the driver is detrimental to the operation ofthe electric delivery truck 110. As the operation parameter controller320 determines that the adjusted position of the accelerator pedal 355is corresponding to an increased acceleration that exceeds theacceleration threshold, the operation parameter controller 320 mayautomatically map a sloped and/or linear acceleration model to theacceleration of the electric delivery truck 110. In doing so, the abruptacceleration and abrupt braking triggered by the natural intelligence ofthe driver is overridden by the operation parameter controller 320 andthe electric delivery truck 110 executes the sloped and/or linearacceleration model mapped by the operation parameter controller 320. Indoing so, the driver is prevented from abruptly accelerating andabruptly braking and rather the electric delivery truck 110automatically accelerates and/or decelerates in sloped and/or linearmanner. Thus, the MPGe of the electric delivery truck 110 when executingthe route is increased due to preventing the detrimental operation ofthe electric delivery truck 110 by the driver.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may also assist theoperation parameter controller 320 in automatically adjusting theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110. The electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may monitor the operation parametersincluded as battery management inputs such as the voltage of the drivebattery 365, the state of charge of the drive battery 365, the kWh ofstorage of the drive battery 365, the MPGe of the electric deliverytruck 110 and so on. As the electric delivery truck monitoring system315 detects the battery management inputs are deviating from a thresholdthat is indicative that the performance of the electric delivery truck110 is being negatively impacted, the electric delivery truck monitoringsystem 315 may notify the operation parameter controller 320 of suchdeviations. The operation parameter controller 320 may thenautomatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 tocompensate for the deviated battery management inputs.

In such an example, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315may identify that the state of charge of the drive battery 365 isdecreasing as the driver abruptly accelerates and abruptly brakes. Theelectric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may notify the operationparameter controller 320 of such a decrease in the state of charge ofthe drive battery 365. The operation parameter controller 320 may thenmap the sloped and/or linear acceleration model to the electric deliverytruck 110 thereby preventing the driver from abruptly acceleration andabruptly braking. In doing so, the decreasing state of charge of thedrive battery 365 may be maintained resulting in an increase in the MPGeof the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110executes the route.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may monitor theacceleration of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 operates to determine whether the acceleration of the electricdelivery truck 110 exceeds an acceleration threshold. The accelerationthreshold that when exceeded requires that the electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 instructs the operation parameter controller 320to activate a first electric motor and a second electric motor. In doingso, the first electric motor and the second electric motor may generatesufficient energy such that the electric delivery truck 110 is able toattain the acceleration requested by the driver of the electric deliverytruck 110.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may then monitor theacceleration of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck operates after the electric delivery truck 110 has reached asteady state in operation after acceleration to determine if theacceleration of the electric delivery truck 110 decreases below theacceleration threshold. After the acceleration of the electric deliverytruck 110 has decreased below the acceleration threshold, the electricdelivery truck monitoring system 315 may instruct the operationparameter controller 320 to deactivate the first electric motor whilemaintaining the second electric motor in an activated state. After theacceleration of the electric delivery truck 110 has decreased below theacceleration threshold, the electric delivery truck 110 no longerrequires both the first electric motor and the second electric motor tobe activated to generate sufficient energy for the electric deliverytruck 110 to operate.

For example, the driver of the electric delivery truck 110 may requestto accelerate the electric delivery truck to a speed of 55 mph. In orderfor the electric delivery truck 110 to accelerate to a speed of 55 mph,the electric delivery truck 110 requires 150 kW to accelerate to a speedof 55 mph. In doing so, the electric delivery truck monitoring system315 may instruct the operation parameter controller 320 to activate boththe first electric motor and the second electric motor once the driveraccelerates the electric delivery truck 110 above the accelerationthreshold. After the electric delivery truck 110 accelerates to a speedof 55 mph, the driver of the electric delivery truck 110 may allow theelectric delivery truck 110 to reach a steady state of limitedacceleration and then may allow the electric delivery truck 110 todecelerate to 45 mph. The electric delivery truck 110 requires 75 kW todecelerate and then operate at 45 mph. The activation of both the firstelectric motor and the second electric motor is not necessary to providesufficient energy for the electric delivery truck 110 to decelerate andthen operate at 45 mph. As a result, the electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 may then instruct the operation parametercontroller 320 to deactivate the first electric motor while maintainingthe second electric motor in an activate state to provide the sufficientenergy for the electric delivery truck 110 to decelerate and operate at45 mph after the acceleration of the electric delivery truck decreasesbelow the acceleration threshold.

During deceleration below the acceleration threshold, the secondelectric motor that is activated while the first electric motor isdeactivate, the second electric motor may generate energy that is thenstored in the drive battery 365 as instructed by the operation parametercontroller 320. As the electric delivery truck 110 decelerates below theacceleration threshold, the second electric motor is no longer requiredto generate energy to drive the electric delivery truck 110 but mayrather operate to generate energy obtained from the kinetic energygenerated as the electric delivery truck 110 operates along the roadwayand the store such energy in the drive battery 365.

Rather than simply having the second electric motor generate energy tostore in the drive batter 365 as the electric delivery truck 110decelerates below the acceleration threshold, the electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may instruct the operation parametercontroller 320 to activate the first electric motor that was previouslydeactivated due to the first electric motor not required to adequatelydrive the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truckoperates 110. In doing so, both the first electric motor and the secondelectric motor may generate energy from the kinetic energy generated asthe electric delivery truck 110 operates and store such generated energyin the drive battery 110. Thus, additional energy may be stored in thedrive battery 365 as the electric delivery truck 110 decelerates belowthe acceleration threshold from the activation of the first electricmotor in addition to the second electric motor to as compared to justthe second electric motor operating as the electric delivery truck 110decelerates below the acceleration threshold.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may display thenumerous different operation parameters that include the batterymanagement inputs as the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315monitors such operation parameters as the electric delivery truck 110operates. The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may displaythe numerous different operation parameters that include the batterymanagement inputs via user interface 350 as the numerous differentoperation parameters fluctuate as the electric delivery truck 110operates. In doing so, a user that manages numerous electric deliverytrucks 110 operating in a fleet may monitor the numerous differentoperation parameters that include the battery management inputs asoperation parameters fluctuate as the electric truck delivery truck 110operates.

For example, as shown in the electric truck delivery monitoringconfiguration 600 depicted in FIG. 6, the electric truck deliverymonitoring system 315 may display to the user via user interface 350numerous different operation parameters that include the batterymanagement inputs as the electric delivery truck 110 operates. In suchan example, the electric truck delivery truck monitoring configuration600 displays to the user the total distance traveled by the electricdelivery truck 110, the current drive energy in kWh, the efficiency inkWh per mile, the amount of miles that the electric delivery truck 110has exceeded 55 MPh, the amount of miles the electric delivery truck hasengaged in overboost, the quantity of stops, the range of state ofcharge during the route, current total efficiency in MPGe, currentbattery energy in kWh, the amount of regen braking in kWh, the amount ofauxiliary energy in kWh, the current voltage for each battery cellincluded in the drive battery 365, the minimum temperature of thebattery cells during the route, the maximum temperature of the batterycells during the route, and the current ambient temperature. Theelectric delivery truck monitoring configuration 600 may depict any typeof operation parameter and/or battery management input that may assistthe user in managing the electric delivery truck 110 that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure.

In doing so, the user may monitor the numerous different operationparameters including the battery management inputs as the electricdelivery truck 110 operates to execute the route as displayed via userinterface 350 to assist the user in optimizing delivery routes for theelectric delivery truck 110 and to also optimize the efficiency of theelectric delivery truck 110 when executing delivery routes. The user mayanalyze the numerous different operation parameters to determine thetype of route that the electric delivery truck 110 should execute tooptimize the efficiency of the electric delivery truck 110 whenexecuting the route. The user may analyze the different routes and thenthe top speeds and energy usage and so on generated by the electricdelivery truck 110 when executing each route to determine the route thathas the increased energy efficiency for the electric delivery truck 110to execute based on the numerous different operation parameters andbattery management inputs displayed to the user via the user interface350.

The electric truck delivery monitoring system 315 may also display tothe driver via a user interface 350 positioned in the electric deliverytruck 110 numerous different operation parameters that included thebattery management inputs as the electric delivery truck 110 operates.In doing so, the driver may receive feedback in real-time as to theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 regarding the efficiency ofthe electric delivery truck 110 when executing the delivery route. Thereal-time feedback displayed to the driver enables the driver toincrease the natural intelligence of the driver such that the driver mayadjust how the driver is operating the electric delivery truck 110 tooptimize the efficiency of the electric delivery truck 110 whenexecuting the delivery route. For example, the user interface 350positioned in the electric delivery truck 110 may display to the drivera rating system that may in real-time display to the driver a rating asto the efficiency of the electric delivery truck 110 when executing theroute. In such an example, the rating system may be a star system wherefive stars are displayed when the electric delivery truck 110 isoperating at optimal efficiency and then four stars are displayed whenthe electric delivery truck 110 is operating at less than optimalefficiency and so on.

The imaging device 340 may also identify the posted speed limit signsthat are positioned along the segment of the roadway as well as anychanges in the posted speed limit of the posted speed limit signs. Asignificant operation parameter for the segment of the roadway is theposted speed limit for the segment of the roadway. The electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may monitor the posted speed limit for thesegment of the roadway as detected by the imaging device 340. As theposition of the electric delivery truck 110 changes in real-time, theimaging device 340 may capture the posted speed limit signs as theelectric delivery truck 110 approaches each posted speed limit sign andthe electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may determine thecurrent speed limit for the segment of the roadway that the electricdelivery truck 110 is currently operating based on the posted speedlimit sign captured by the imaging device 340. The electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may then provide the current speed limit forthe segment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck is currentlyoperating to the operation parameter controller 320.

The operation parameter controller 320 may then automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 based on the current speedlimit for the segment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck110 is currently operating based as captured by the imaging device 340.The operation parameter controller 320 may ensure that the current speedthat the electric delivery truck 110 is operating does not exceed thecurrent speed limit for the segment of the roadway that the electricdelivery truck 110 is currently operating. In doing so, the electricdelivery truck 110 may ensure that the driver does not exceed thecurrent speed limit for the segment of the roadway that the electricdelivery truck 110 is currently operating. As a result, the MPGe of theelectric delivery truck 110 is increased by preventing the driver fromunnecessarily increasing the speed beyond the current speed limit of thesegment of the roadway in which the electric delivery truck 110 iscurrently operating thereby increasing the MPGe of the electric deliverytruck 110.

The imaging device 340 may then provide the electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 with any change in the posted speed limit signsand the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may then providethe changes in the posted speed limit signs to the operation parametercontroller 320. The operation parameter controller 320 may thenautomatically adjust the speed of the electric delivery truck 110 toensure that the speed of the electric delivery truck 110 does notincrease above the change in the speed limit of the segment of theroadway that the electric delivery truck 110 is currently operating asprovided by the change in the posted speed limit sign detected by theimaging device 340. In doing so, the driver is continuously preventedfrom exceeding the current speed of the segment of the roadway that theelectric delivery truck 110 is currently operating thereby increasingthe MPGe of the electric delivery truck 110.

In addition to the operation parameters provided by the CAN bus 380, theelectric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may also monitor GPS datathat is provided by the GPS 370 as the electric delivery truck 110operates in executing the route. The GPS 370 may detect the position ofthe electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110maneuvers along the roadway relative to the roadway and the drivingenvironment of the electric delivery truck 110. As the position of theelectric delivery truck 110 changes in real-time, the GPS 370 mayprovide the operation parameter of the position of the electric deliverytuck 110 to the operation parameter controller 320.

In doing so, the operation parameter controller 320 may automaticallyadjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 based on theposition of the electric delivery truck 110 in real-time relative to thedriving environment of the electric delivery truck 110. The operationparameter controller 320 may localize the position of the electricdelivery truck 110 relative to the driving environment of the electricdelivery truck 110 via the GPS 370 such that the operation parametercontroller 320 may incorporate the localized position of the electricdelivery truck 110 into the operation of the electric delivery truck110. The operation parameter controller 320 may also localize theposition of the electric delivery truck 110 relative to the drivingenvironment of the electric delivery truck 110 via the GPS 370 such thatthe operation parameter controller 320 may incorporate the localizedposition of the electric delivery truck 110 relative tothree-dimensional (3D) maps 395 of the driving environment.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may continuouslystream 3D maps 315 of the driving environment based on position of theelectric delivery truck 110 as detected by the GPS 370. The electricdelivery truck monitoring system 315 may then incorporate the positionof the electric delivery truck 110 as detected by the GPS 370 into the3D maps 315 of the driving environment and then analyze the 3D maps 315as the position of the electric delivery truck 110 changes in real-timerelative to the driving environment as depicted in the 3D maps 315. The3D maps 315 may provide numerous operation parameters that have terrainaspects of the driving environment in that the terrain aspects includecharacteristics of the driving environment that are associated with thegeometry of the segment of the roadway as well as other aspects of theterrain surrounding the electric delivery truck 110 as the electricdelivery truck 110 maneuvers along the segment of the roadway. Suchterrain aspects may provide the operation parameter controller 320 withthe insight as to the aspects associated with the geometry of thedriving environment as well as other aspects of the terrain of thedriving environment as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers alongthe segment of the roadway in real-time.

For example, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may alsoidentify the current speed limit of the segment of the roadway that theelectric delivery truck 110 is currently operating as provided by the 3Dmaps 395 as well as any changes in the posted speed limit provided bythe 3D maps 395. As the position of the electric delivery truck 110changes in real-time, the 3D maps 395 may provide the position of theelectric delivery truck 110 in real-time based on the position detectedby the GPS. The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may thendetermine the current speed limit of the segment of the roadway that theelectric delivery truck 110 is currently operating based on the positionof the electric delivery truck 110 depicted in the 3D maps 395 and thecorresponding speed limit provided by the 3D maps 395. and therebyprovide the current speed limit of the segment of the roadway that theelectric delivery truck 110 is currently operating from the speed limitsigns that are provided by the 3D maps 395. The electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 may then provide the current speed limit for thesegment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck 110 is currentlyoperating to the operation parameter controller 320.

The operation parameter controller 320 may then automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 based on the current speedlimit for the segment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck110 is currently operating as provided by the 3D maps 395. The operationparameter controller 320 may ensure that the current speed that theelectric delivery truck 110 is operating does not exceed the currentspeed limit for the segment of the roadway that the electric deliverytruck 110 is currently operating. In doing so, the electric deliverytruck 110 may ensure that the driver does not exceed the current speedlimit for the segment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck110 is currently operating. As a result, the MPGe of the electricdelivery truck 110 is increased by preventing the driver fromunnecessarily increasing the speed beyond the current speed limit of thesegment of the roadway in which the electric delivery truck 110 iscurrently operating thereby increasing the MPGe of the electric deliverytruck 110.

The 3D maps 395 may then provide the electric delivery truck monitoringsystem 315 with any change in the speed limits and the electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may then provide the changes in the speedlimits to the operation parameter controller 320. The operationparameter controller 320 may then automatically adjust the speed of theelectric delivery truck 110 to ensure that the speed of the electricdelivery truck 110 does not increase above the change in the speed limitof the segment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck 110 iscurrently operating as provided by the 3D maps 395. In doing so, thedriver is continuously prevented from exceeding the current speed of thesegment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck 110 is currentlyoperating thereby increasing the MPGe of the electric delivery truck110.

The GPS 370 may provide numerous operation parameters that have terrainaspects of the driving environment in that the terrain aspects includecharacteristics of the driving environment that are associated with thegeometry of the roadway as well as other aspects of the terrainsurrounding the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 maneuvers along the roadway. Such terrain aspects may providethe operation parameter controller 320 and/or the electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 with the insight as to the aspectsassociated with the geometry of the driving environment as well as otheraspects of the terrain of the driving environment as the electricdelivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway in real-time.

For example, the GPS 370 in real-time may provide driving parameterssuch as but not limited to ascending grades of the roadway, descendinggrades of the roadway, curvature of the roadway, terrain of the roadway,and/or any other type of operation parameter that is associated with thegeometry and/or terrain of the segment of the roadway as the electricdelivery truck 110 operates in the driving environment that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure. The operation parametercontroller 320 may then incorporate the operation parameters provided bythe GPS 370 and/or the insight provided by the electric truck deliverymonitoring system 315 in real-time to adjust the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 in real-time based on the geometry and/orterrain of the roadway as identified by the operation parametersprovided by the GPS 370.

As discussed in detail above, the operation parameter controller 320 mayincorporate the operation parameters associated with the geometry and/orterrain of the roadway to automatically adjust the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 based on the geometry and/or terrain of theroadway. The geometry and/or terrain of the roadway as determined fromthe GPS 370 by the operation parameter controller 320 may have asignificant impact as to how the operation parameter controller 320adjusts the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 to accommodatefor the geometry and/or terrain of the roadway. In doing so, theoperation parameter controller 320 may determine the necessary operationparameters associated with the geometry and/or terrain of the roadway asdetermined from the GPS 370 to adjust the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 as the geometry and/or terrain of the segment of theroadway changes in real-time. The GPS 370 may provide any type ofoperation parameter to the operation parameter controller 320 that mayenable the operation parameter controller 320 to automatically adjustthe operation of the electric delivery truck 110 to account for theimpact of the operation parameters provided by the GPS 370 that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure.

The operation parameter controller 320 may also monitor numerousoperation parameters associated with the CAN bus 380 of the electricdelivery truck 110. The CAN bus 380 may be receiving numerous signalstriggered by numerous components and/or sensors associated with theelectric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuversalong the roadway. The operation parameter controller 320 may monitorthe numerous operation parameters associated with the CAN bus 380 andthen automatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck110 based on the numerous operation parameters associated with the CANbus 380.

The operation parameter controller 320 may identify a topologicallocation of the electric delivery truck 110 based on a currenttopography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truck110 is operating on the roadway. The operation parameter controller maydetermine whether the current topography associated with the topographylocation of the electric delivery truck 110 exceeds a topographythreshold. The topography threshold when exceeded is indicative that thecurrent topography of the driving environment that the electric deliverytruck 110 is operating is increased thereby requiring increased power tobe provided by the overall power storage 365 of the electric deliverytruck 110 to assist the electric delivery truck 110 in operating theincreased current topography. The operation parameter controller 110 mayadjust the power provided to the electric motor 375 from the overallpower storage 365 to increase the power provided to the electric motor375 to accommodate for the increased current topography that exceeds thetopography threshold.

The operation parameter controller 320 may determine whether the currenttopography associated with the current topography location of theelectric delivery truck deviates below the topography threshold. Thetopography threshold when deviated below is indicative that the currenttopography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truck110 is operating is decreased thereby requiring decreased power to beprovided by the overall power storage 365 of the electric delivery truck110. The operation parameter controller 320 may automatically adjust thepower provided to the electric motor 375 from the overall power storage365 to decrease the power provided to the electric motor 375 to enableadditional power to be stored by the overall power storage 365 therebyenabling an increase in duration that the electric delivery truck 110operates due to the additional power stored in the overall power storage365.

The current topography of the electric delivery truck 110 may enable theoperation parameter controller 320 and/or the electric delivery truckmonitoring system 110 to customize the amount of power that is availableto the electric delivery truck 110 as provided by the drive battery 365.For example, the electric delivery truck 110 that operates in a currenttopography that exceeds the topography threshold as in topographies thatare significantly elevated, such as the Rocky Mountains, may requireadditional electric power provided by the drive battery 365 toadequately accelerate up the elevated topographies. Elevatedtopographies, such as mountainous regions, require additional power toaccelerate the electrical delivery truck 110 up the elevatedtopographies as compared to the electric delivery truck 110 thatoperates in topographies with elevations that are below the topographythreshold.

Thus, the operation parameter controller 320 may automatically provideadditional power to the electric delivery truck 110 that has GPScoordinates provided by the GPS 370 that are within topographies thatexceed the topography threshold to ensure that the electric deliverytruck 110 is able to travel up the elevated topographies. However,providing increased power from the drive battery 365 results in theamount of power stored in the drive battery 365 to be consumed at afaster rate than the electric delivery truck 110 that operates intopographies with elevations that are below the topography threshold. Asa result, the duration of operation of the electric delivery truck 110that operates in topographies that exceed the topography thresholdoperate with a shorter duration than the electric delivery truck 110that operates in topographies that are below the topography threshold.

In another example, the electric delivery truck 110 that operates in acurrent topography that is below the topography threshold as intopographies that are relatively flat, such as the corn fields of Iowa,may require less electric power provided by the drive battery 365 toadequately accelerate along the lower graded topographies. Lower gradedtopographies, such as the plain regions, require less power toaccelerate the electric delivery truck 110 along the lower gradedtopographies as compared to the electric delivery truck 110 thatoperates in topographies with elevations that exceed the topographythreshold.

Thus, the operation parameter controller 320 may automatically decreasethe amount of power to the electric delivery truck 110 that has GPScoordinates provided by the GPS 370 that are within topographies thatare below the topography threshold to ensure that the electric deliverytruck 110 has an increased duration in operation. The electric deliverytruck 110 that operates within topographies below the topographythreshold does not require the power to accelerate along the lowergraded topographies. Providing the additional power to the driverprovides the risk that the natural intelligence of the driver mayunnecessarily increase acceleration along the lower grade topographiesresulting in unnecessarily decreasing the duration that the electricdelivery truck 110 may operate based on the power stored in the drivebattery 365. Thus, the operation parameter controller 320 mayautomatically limit the power available to the electric delivery truck110 operates along topographies that are below the topography thresholdto ensure that the duration of the electric delivery truck 110 that theelectric delivery truck 110 may operate before the power stored in thedrive battery 365 is drained is extended.

In an embodiment, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 maydetermine whether the current topography associated with the topographylocation of the electric delivery truck 110 based on geofencing. Asdiscussed above, the GPS 370 may provide the current location of theelectric delivery truck 110. The electric delivery truck monitoringsystem 315 may establish a geofence around a topographical region thatis determined to have a topography that exceeds the topographicalthreshold. For example, the electric delivery truck 110 may establish ageofence around the Rocky Mountains as the Rocky Mountains have atopography that exceeds the topography threshold thereby triggering theelectric delivery truck 110 that operates within the geofence around theRocky Mountains to require additional power to adequately accelerate upthe elevated topographies of the Rocky Mountains.

In doing so, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 mayidentify the current topography location of the electric delivery truck110 based on the location of the electric delivery truck 110 provided bythe GPS 370. The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may thendetermine that the current location of the electric delivery truck 110is within the geofence that indicates that the current topographylocation of the electric delivery truck 110 exceeds the topographicalthreshold. The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may theninstruct the operation parameter controller 320 to automaticallyincrease the amount of power available to the electric delivery truck110 based on the geofence that the current topographical location of theelectric delivery truck 110 is within. The operation parametercontroller 110 may then automatically provide the adequate amount ofpower to the electric delivery truck 110 to adequately climb theelevated topography.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may also establish ageofence around a topographical region that is determined to have atopography that is below the topographical threshold. For example, theelectric delivery truck 110 may establish a geofence around the cornfields of Iowa as the corn fields of Iowa have a topography that isbelow the topography threshold thereby triggering the electric deliverytruck 110 that operates within the geofence around the corn fields ofIowa to require less power to adequately accelerate along the lowergraded topographies of the corn fields of Iowa thereby enabling theelectric delivery truck 110 to have an increased duration in operationby decreasing the amount of unnecessary power required by the electricdelivery truck 110 to operate along the lower graded topographies.

In doing so, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 mayidentify the current topography location of the electric delivery truck110 based on the location of the electric delivery truck 110 provided bythe GPS 370. The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may thendetermine that the current location of the electric delivery truck 110is within the geofence that indicates that the current topographylocation of the electric delivery truck 110 that is below thetopographical threshold. The electric delivery truck monitoring system315 may then instruct the operation parameter controller 320 toautomatically decrease the amount of power available to the electricdelivery truck 110 based on the geofence that the current topographicallocation of the electric delivery truck 110 is within. The operationparameter controller 110 may then automatically provide the adequateamount of power to the electric delivery truck 110 to adequately operatethe lower grade topography while extending the duration of the operationof the electric delivery truck 110 by preventing the electric deliverytruck 110 from unnecessarily consuming power provided by the drivebattery 365.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may also enable theuser to monitor the location of the electric delivery truck 110 inreal-time as well as the number of stops the electric delivery truck 110has executed in real-time when executing the route as well as theduration of time in real-time since the last charge of the electricdelivery truck 110 as well as the range of charge of the drive battery365 in real-time of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electricdelivery truck 110 executes the route. For example, returning to FIG. 4,the electric delivery truck monitoring configuration 400 displays to theuser via the user interface 350, the location of the electric deliverytruck 110 in real-time as well as the route that the electric deliverytruck 110 has traveled in real-time as well as the duration of time inreal-time since the last charge as well as the range of charge of thedrive battery 365.

In doing so, the user may monitor in real-time the current location ofthe electric delivery truck 110 as well as the current state of thedrive battery 365 of the electric delivery truck 110 in relation to theroute already executed by the electric delivery truck as well as theroute remaining for the electric delivery truck 110 to execute. The usermay then monitor the performance of the electric delivery truck 110 inreal-time in relation to the route and may intervene to assist thedriver that is operating the electric delivery truck 110 to ensure thatthe operation of the electric delivery truck 110 is optimized whenconducting the route. The electric delivery truck monitoring system 110may display to the user via the user interface 350 any type of operationparameter that may assist the user in tracking the performance of theelectric delivery truck 110 when executing the route that will beapparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure.

In addition to assisting the user in tracking a single electric deliverytruck 110, the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may enablethe user to track numerous electric delivery trucks 110 that areincluded in a fleet of electric delivery trucks 110 that the user isrequired to manage. Numerous electric delivery trucks 110 included inthe fleet may be operating and executing numerous different routes innumerous different locations simultaneously. The electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 may enable the user to track the performance,location, and so on of the numerous different electric delivery trucks110 operating and executing routes simultaneously. In doing so, the usermay adequately manage the numerous different electric delivery trucks110 included in the fleet that the user is required to manage based onthe numerous operation parameters associated with the numerous differentelectric delivery trucks 110 that are generated in real-time andprovided to the user to view via user interface 350 by the electricdelivery truck monitoring system 315. For example, the electric deliverytruck monitoring system 315 may display warnings associated with thenumerous electric delivery trucks 110 as those warnings are generated tothe user via the user interface 350.

The electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may be a device thatis capable of electronically communicating with other devices. Examplesof the electric delivery truck monitoring system 315 may include amobile telephone, a smartphone, a workstation, a portable computingdevice, other computing devices such as a laptop, or a desktop computer,cluster of computers, set-top box, and/or any other suitable electronicdevice that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

In an embodiment, multiple modules may be implemented on the samecomputing device. Such a computing device may include software,firmware, hardware or a combination thereof. Software may include one ormore applications on an operating system. Hardware can include, but isnot limited to, a processor, a memory, and/or graphical user interfacedisplay.

Electric Delivery Truck Control Detection Configuration

The electric delivery truck control system configuration 300 as shown inFIG. 3 also includes an electric delivery truck control unit 335 thatdetects a brake pedal 345 of the electric delivery truck 110 and anaccelerator pedal 355 of the electric delivery truck 110. The electricdelivery truck control unit 335 may detect operation parametersassociated with the control of the electric delivery truck 110 as theelectric delivery truck 110 operates. The operation parameter controller320 may then incorporate the operation parameters into the automaticadjustment of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric deliverytruck 110 operates. In doing so, the operation parameter controller 320may adjust the vehicle systems 390 of the electric delivery truck 110.

The electric delivery truck control unit 335 detects a plurality ofelectric delivery truck control inputs, such as but not limited inputsgenerated from the brake pedal 345, accelerator pedal 355, and so on,that are associated with an operation of the electric delivery truck 110as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway. Theelectric delivery truck control inputs are generated from a longitudinaloperation of the electric delivery truck 110. The electric deliverytruck control inputs provide insight to the operation parametercontroller 320 as to the state of the control of the electric deliverytruck 110 in real-time as well as the intent of the driver with regardto operating the electric delivery truck 110 in real-time. The operationparameter controller 320 may then incorporate the electric deliverytruck control inputs into the automatic adjustment of the operation ofthe electric delivery truck 110 to account for the current state of thecontrol of the electric delivery truck 110 as well as the intent of thedriver with regard to operating the electric delivery truck 110.

For example, the electric delivery truck control inputs provide insightas to the current state of the control of the electric delivery truck110 as well as the intent of the driver such as but not limited to thedeceleration and/or braking of the electric delivery truck 110 based onthe brake pedal 345, the acceleration and/or increase in operating speedof the electric delivery truck 110 based on the accelerator pedal 355,and/or any other type of electric delivery truck control input that isindicative as to the current state of the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 and/or the intent of the driver that will be apparentto those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure.

The operation parameter controller 320 may then automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery110 maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 within the operation threshold based on thedetected electric delivery truck control inputs. Each of the electricdelivery truck control inputs detected by the electric delivery truckcontrol unit 335 may enable the operation parameter controller 320 toautomatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 toaccommodate for the current state of the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 as well as the driver intent in real-time.

The operation parameter controller 320 may identify each electricdelivery truck control input as detected by the electric delivery truckcontrol unit 335 in real-time as the electric delivery truck 110maneuvers along the roadway. The operation parameter controller 320 maydetermine a current state of the operation of the electric deliverytruck 110 and a driver intent from each electric delivery truck controlinput as the electric delivery truck 110 is operating in real-time. Thecurrent state of the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 isindicative as to a current position of the electric delivery truck 110as the electric delivery truck 110 is operating in real-time and thedriver intent is an intent that the driver requests to operate theelectric delivery truck 110 in real-time. The operation parametercontroller 320 may then automatically adjust the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuversalong the roadway to accommodate for the current state of the operationof the electric delivery truck 110 and the driver intent of the electricdelivery truck 110 in real-time.

Rather than ignore the current state of the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 as well as the driver intent, operation parametercontroller 320 may identify each electric delivery truck control inputand the corresponding state of the electric delivery truck 110 based oneach electric delivery truck control input and then automatically adjustthe operation of the electric delivery truck 110 based on the currentstate of the electric delivery truck 110 and the driver intent. Forexample, the vehicle systems 390 may include but are not limited to theengine controller, brakes, steering, throttle, and/or any other type ofsystem of the electric delivery truck 110 that trigger the electricdelivery 110 to operate.

For example, the current status of the brake pedal 345 in real-time asthe electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway may indicateto the operation parameter controller 320 as to whether the electricdelivery truck 110 is currently braking and thereby decelerating. Theoperation parameter controller 320 may determine that the electricdelivery truck 110 is not currently in the braking status when there isno pressure applied to the brake pedal 345. In doing so, the operationparameter controller 320 may automatically adjust the operation of theelectric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuversalong the roadway based on the assumption that the electric deliverytruck 110 is not currently braking. Further, the operation parametercontroller 320 may determine that the electric delivery truck 110 iscurrently in the braking status when there is pressure applied to thebrake pedal 345. In doing so, the operation parameter controller 320 mayautomatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck 110 asthe electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadway based on theassumption that the electric delivery truck 110 is currently braking.

In another example, the current status of the accelerator pedal 355 inreal-time as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers along the roadwaymay indicate to the operation parameter controller 320 as to whether theelectric delivery truck 110 is currently accelerating due to the driverapplying pressure to the accelerator pedal 355. The operation parametercontroller 320 may determine that the electric delivery truck is notcurrently in the accelerating status when there is no pressure appliedto the accelerator pedal 355. In doing so, the operation parametercontroller 320 may automatically adjust the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers alongthe roadway based on the assumption that the electric delivery truck 110is not currently accelerating. Further, the operation parametercontroller 320 may determine that the electric delivery truck 110 iscurrently in the acceleration status when there is pressure applied tothe accelerator pedal 355. In doing so, the operation parametercontroller 320 may automatically adjust the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110 maneuvers alongthe roadway based on the assumption that the electric delivery truck 110is currently accelerating.

Additional Features

Returning to FIG. 3, the drive battery 365 may include battery modules325(a-n), where n is an integer equal to or greater than one. Thegreater amount of drive modules 325(a-n) that the drive battery 365includes then the greater amount of power capacity that may be providedby the drive battery 365 to the electric delivery truck 110 as theelectric delivery truck 110 operates. As the electric delivery truck 110requires additional power capacity to complete an extended route, theelectric delivery truck 110 requires an increased amount of batterymodules 325(a-n) to have the power capacity to provide sufficient powerto the electric delivery truck 110 as the electric delivery truck 110executes the extended route. However, the electric delivery truck 110that executes a route of decreased duration, the electric delivery truck110 may not require the power provided by the power capacity of theincreased battery modules 325(a-n). In having increased battery modules325(a-n) that are not required to provide the amount of power requiredfor the electric delivery truck 110 to execute the route of decreasedduration, simply adds unnecessary weight to the electric delivery truck110. The added unnecessary weight of the increased battery modules325(a-n) decreases the MPGe of the electric delivery truck executes theroute of decreased duration.

Often times, the electric delivery truck 110 may execute delivery routesof different durations. For example, the electric delivery truck 110 mayexecute delivery routes of increased duration during the holiday seasonas the amount of stops per delivery route is significantly increased dueto the significant increase in packages that are required to bedelivered during the holiday season. In such an example, the duration ofthe delivery routes executed by the electric delivery truck 110 may besignificantly increased in order for the increased amount of packages tobe delivered in a timely manner. However, during other times of the yearthat are outside of the holiday season, the duration of the deliveryroutes executed by the electric delivery route 110 may be significantlydecreased from the duration of the delivery routes executed during theholiday season due to a significant decrease in the amount of packagesthat are required to be delivered.

Delivery routes of increased duration require that the electric deliverytruck 110 have an increased power capacity in order for the electricdelivery truck 110 to have sufficient power to complete the deliveryroutes of increased duration. In doing so, the electric delivery truck110 requires that the drive battery 365 include increased batterymodules 325(a-n) in order to have the increased power capacity such thatthe electric delivery truck has sufficient power to complete theelectric delivery routes of increased duration. The increased batterymodules 325(a-n) increase the weight of the electric delivery truck 110but that increased weight is necessary to have the power capacity toexecute the routes of increased duration.

However, the electric delivery truck 110 may not be required to executethe routes of increased duration throughout the year but may be requiredto execute routes of decreased duration. The execution of routes ofdecreased duration do not require the power capacity to be provided bythe drive battery 365 as the routes of increased duration therebyrequiring a decreased battery modules 325(a-n). The electric deliverytruck 110 operating with increased battery modules 325(a-n) whenexecuting routes of decreased duration unnecessarily adds weight to theelectric delivery truck thereby decreasing the MPGe of the electricdelivery truck 110 when executing the routes of decreased duration asthe electric delivery truck 110 does not require the additional powercapacity provided by the increased battery modules 325(a-n).

Rather than having different electric delivery trucks 110 with differentquantities of battery modules 325(a-n) to be used for the execution ofdifferent duration of routes in order to have the appropriate powercapacity for each route while not having unnecessary weight, the drivebattery 365 may be modular in that different quantities of batterymodules 325(a-n) may be added or removed from the drive battery 365 tocustomize the power capacity of the electric delivery truck 110 to theduration of the route that the electric delivery truck 110 is executing.In doing so, the amount of battery modules 325(a-n) may be added to thedrive battery 365 when the electric delivery truck 110 is executingroutes of increased duration thereby providing sufficient power capacityto the electric delivery truck 110 to execute the routes of increasedduration. The amount of battery modules 325(a-n) may be removed from thedrive battery 365 when the electric delivery truck 110 is executingroutes of decreased duration thereby providing sufficient power capacityto the electric delivery truck 110 to execute routes of decreasedduration while not unnecessarily additional weight to the electricdelivery truck 110 when executing routes of decreased duration.

As the battery modules 325(a-n) are added to the drive battery 365 orremoved from the drive battery 365, the operation parameter controller320 may recognize the adjusted amount of battery modules 325(a-n) andaccount for the adjusted amount of power capacity available to theelectric delivery truck 110 when adjusting the operation of the electricdelivery truck 110. In an embodiment, a first battery module 325 a maybe a chief battery module in that the first battery module 325 a isalways installed into the drive battery 365. In doing so, even if thedrive battery 365 includes a single battery module, that single batterymodule is battery module 325 a and operates as the chief battery. Then,the operation parameter controller 320 may recognize when additionalbattery modules 325(b-n) are added to the drive battery 365 due to thepresence of the additional battery modules 325(b-n) in addition to thefirst battery module 325 a on the CAN bus 380. The operation parametercontroller 320 may then operate the electric delivery truck 110 based onthe battery modules 325(a-n) on the CAN bus 380. The operation parametercontroller 320 may then recognize when the additional battery modules325(b-n) are removed from the drive battery 365 due to the lack ofpresence of the additional battery modules 325(b-n) in addition to thefirst battery 325 a on the CAN bus 380. The electric delivery truckmonitoring system 315 may also recognize the quantity of battery modules325(a-n) included in the drive battery 365 in a similar manner.

The drive battery 365 may be air cooled with fans. The fans may face upinto the electric delivery truck 110 and generate air that is directedup a center plenum that provides cool air or heated air to the drivebattery 365 via in inlet and/or outlet that are both included in thecenter plenum. A coupling positioned on the center plenum simply needsto be moved to transition the air provided to the drive battery 365 fromcooled air to heated air and vice versa thereby automaticallyconditioning the drive battery 365 with air. Rather than being watercooled that requires water lines and electrical lines to be connected totransition the air from being cool air or heated air and vice versa andhaving to bleed bubbles out of the water lines after each transition,the coupling may simply be transitioned to transition the air fromcooled air to heated air.

An air-conditioner compressor 375 may be a high voltage air conditionerthat includes a single air-conditioner compressor 375. A firstevaporator may be dedicated to the cab for the driver. A secondevaporator may be dedicated to the drive battery 365. The operationparameter controller 320 may monitor the temperature of the drivebattery 365 as well as the temperature of the cab. As the temperature ofthe drive battery 365 increases above a battery temperature thresholdthat is indicative that the drive battery 365 requires additionalcooling, the operational parameter controller 320 may automaticallydivert cooled air from the evaporator associated with the cab to theevaporator associated with the drive battery 365. In doing so,additional cooled air is diverted to the drive battery 365 therebydecreasing the temperature of the drive battery 365 after thetemperature exceeds the battery temperature threshold.

The electric delivery truck 110 may include a high voltage drive forexternal pumps and/or external generators and/or any other electronicdevice that requires high voltages to operate. The high voltage drivemay be connected to the drive battery 365. The operation parametercontroller 320 may recognize when a high voltage device is plugged intothe high voltage drive connector. Rather than providing a constant highvoltage to the high voltage device, the operation parameter controller320 may dynamically adjust the constant high voltage provided to thehigh voltage device based on the operation parameters of the electricdelivery truck 110. The operation parameter controller 320 recognizesthe radius required for the electric delivery truck 110 to arrive at ahome base to repower. Thus, the operation parameter controller 320 maydecrease the high voltage provided to the high voltage device as thepower level of the drive battery 365 begins to decrease below a powerlevel threshold that may jeopardize the electric delivery truck 110 fromhaving sufficient power to arrive back at the home base. For example,the high voltage drive may provide high voltage sufficient to drive anexternal pump. The high voltage drive may provide high voltagesufficient to drive external light sources. However, the operationparameter controller 320 may decrease the high voltage provided to theexternal pump and/or external light source to ensure that the electricdelivery truck 110 may arrive at home base without depleting the drivebattery 365 of power.

Conclusion

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Abstract section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims.The Abstract section may set forth one or more, but not all exemplaryembodiments, of the present disclosure, and thus, is not intended tolimit the present disclosure and the appended claims in any way.

The present disclosure has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functionalbuilding blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenienceof the description. Alternate boundaries may be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) the variouschanges in form and detail can be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the present disclosure. Thus the present disclosure shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electric delivery truck control system toautomatically manage a plurality of operation parameters of an electricdelivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates, comprising: aplurality of sensors associated with the electric delivery truck thatmaneuvers on a roadway that is configured to detect the operationparameters associated with the electric delivery truck as the electricdelivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the operationparameters are indicative to an operation of the electric delivery truckas the electric delivery truck maneuvers on the roadway; an electricdelivery truck control unit associated with the electric delivery truckthat is configured to detect a plurality of electric delivery truckcontrol inputs associated with an operation of the electric deliverytruck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway,wherein the electric delivery truck control inputs are generated fromthe operation of the electric delivery truck; and an operation parametercontroller configured to automatically adjust the operation of theelectric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers alongthe roadway to maintain the operation of the electric delivery truckwithin an operation threshold based on the detected operation parametersand electric delivery truck control inputs, wherein the operationthreshold is the operation of the electric delivery truck that ismaintained within an overall power storage of the electric deliverytruck thereby enabling the electric delivery truck to execute a route byconsuming power stored in the overall power storage of the electricdelivery truck.
 2. The electric delivery truck control system of claim1, wherein the plurality of sensors further comprise: an imaging deviceconfigured to detect a plurality of visual detection operationparameters that are associated with the electric delivery truck as theelectric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the visualdetection operation parameters are driving parameters that are visuallyidentifiable as detected by the imaging device and are indicative to thedriving environment that the electric delivery truck is operating. 3.The electric delivery truck control system of claim 2, wherein theoperation parameter controller is further configured to: identify anobject positioned in a drive path of the electric delivery truck as theelectric delivery truck maneuvers along the roadway; instruct anelectric motor included in the electric delivery truck to transitionfrom operating in a drive mode to a reverse mode to thereby transitionthe electric motor from operating as the electric motor to operating asan electric generator in response to the identification of the objectpositioned in the drive path; and automatically decrease the speed ofthe electric delivery truck due to the electric motor removing powerthat is available to accelerate the electric delivery truck to storingthe captured power in the overall power storage of the electric deliverytruck thereby triggering the speed of the electric delivery truck toautomatically decrease, wherein the automatic decrease in speed enablesa driver of the electric delivery truck to avoid the object positionedin the drive path of the electric delivery truck.
 4. The electricdelivery truck control system of claim 2, wherein the operationparameter controller is further configured to: identify a position ofthe electric delivery truck as detected by the imaging device inreal-time relative to a lane included in the roadway that the electricdelivery truck is maneuvering; determine when the position of theelectric delivery truck deviates beyond a lane center threshold inreal-time, wherein the lane center threshold is the position of theelectric delivery truck relative to a center position of the lane thatwhen deviated beyond is indicative that the position of the electricdelivery truck is deviating from the lane that the electric deliverytruck is maneuvering; and automatically alert the driver that theposition of the electric delivery truck is deviated beyond the lanecenter threshold indicating to the driver that the driver is to adjustthe position of the electric delivery truck to be within the lane centerthreshold.
 5. The electric delivery truck control system of claim 2,wherein the imaging device is further configured to captured a speedlimit posted by a speed limit sign that is positioned on a segment ofthe roadway that the electric delivery truck is currently operating. 6.The electric delivery truck control system of claim 5, wherein theoperation parameter controller is further configured to: identify thespeed limit associated with the segment of the roadway that the electricdelivery truck is currently operating as captured by the imaging devicefrom the speed limit sign positioned on the segment of the roadway thatthe electric delivery truck is currently operating; automatically adjusta speed of the electric delivery truck to prevent the speed of theelectric delivery truck from exceeding the speed limit associated withthe segment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck is currentlyoperating; and automatically adjust the speed of the electric deliverytruck as the speed associated with the segment of the roadway that theelectric delivery truck is currently operating as the speed limitcaptured by the imaging device from the speed limit sign changes toprevent the speed of the electric delivery truck from exceeding thespeed limit associated with the segment of the roadway that the electricdelivery truck is currently operating changes.
 7. The electric deliverytruck control system of claim 1, wherein the electric delivery truckcontrol unit is further configured to detect an acceleration of theelectric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates.
 8. Theelectric delivery truck control system of claim 7, wherein the operationparameter controller is further configured to: determine whether theacceleration of the electric delivery truck decreases below anacceleration threshold, wherein a decrease below the accelerationthreshold is indicative that a first electric motor is deactivate and asecond electric motor is activated to drive the electric delivery truckas the electric delivery truck operates; automatically activate thefirst electric motor and maintain the activation of the second electricmotor for the first electric motor and the second electric motor togenerate energy converted from kinetic energy generated from theoperation of the electric delivery truck when operating below theacceleration threshold; and store the energy generated by the firstelectric motor and the second electric motor that is converted from thekinetic energy generated from the operation of the electric deliverytruck when operating below the acceleration threshold in a batterymanagement unit associated with the electric delivery truck.
 9. Theelectric delivery truck control system of claim 1, wherein the electricdelivery truck control unit further is configured to detect an adjustedacceleration that corresponds to an adjusted position of an acceleratorpedal based on the driver attempting to increase a current accelerationwith the adjusted position of the accelerator pedal.
 10. The electricdelivery truck control system of claim 9, wherein the operationparameter controller is further configured to: determine whether theadjusted acceleration that corresponds to the adjusted position of theaccelerator pedal exceeds an acceleration threshold, wherein theacceleration threshold when exceeded is indicative that the driver isattempting to increase the current acceleration in a decreased durationthat is detrimental to operation of the electric delivery truck; andautomatically adjust the operation of the electric delivery truck to mapa gradual acceleration that limits the increase in the currentacceleration to an increased duration that maintains the adjustedacceleration within the acceleration threshold that is not detrimentalto the operation of the electric delivery truck.
 11. The electricdelivery truck control system of claim 1, wherein the operationparameter controller is further configured to: identify a topographicallocation of the electric delivery truck based on a current topography ofthe driving environment that the electric delivery truck is operating onthe roadway; determine whether the current topography associated withthe topography location of the electric delivery truck exceeds atopography threshold, wherein the topography threshold when exceeded isindicative that the current topography of the driving environment thatthe electric delivery truck is operating is increased thereby requiringincreased power to be provided by the overall power storage of theelectric delivery truck to assist the electric delivery truck inoperating the increased current topography; and automatically adjustpower provided to the electric motor from the overall power storage toincrease the power provided to the electric motor to accommodate for theincreased current topography that exceeds the topography threshold. 12.The electric delivery truck control system of claim 11, wherein theoperation parameter controller is further configured to: determinewhether the current topography associated with the topography locationof the electric delivery truck deviates below the topographicalthreshold, wherein the topography threshold when deviated below isindicative that the current topography of the driving environment thatthe electric delivery truck is operating is decreased thereby requiringdecreased power to be provided by the overall power storage of theelectric delivery truck; automatically adjust the power provided to theelectric motor from the overall power storage to decrease the powerprovided to the electric motor to enable additional power to be storedby the overall power storage thereby enabling an increase in durationthat the electric delivery truck operates due to the additional powerstored in the overall power storage.
 13. The electric delivery truckcontrol system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors furthercomprise: a battery management unit associated with the electricdelivery truck that is configured to detect a plurality of batterymanagement inputs associated with an overall battery efficiency of theelectric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers alongthe roadway, wherein the battery management inputs are generated from aconsumption of power from the overall power storage of the electricdelivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates.
 14. The electricdelivery truck control system of claim 13, wherein the operationparameter controller is further configured to: automatically adjust theoperation of the electric delivery truck control inputs as the electricdelivery truck maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation ofthe electric delivery truck within the operation threshold based on thedetected battery management inputs and the electric delivery truckcontrol inputs and thereby increase the overall battery efficiency ofthe electric delivery truck when executing the route by consuming powerstored in the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck. 15.A method for automatically managing a plurality of operation parametersof an electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck operates,comprising: detecting the operation parameters associated with theelectric delivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers alongthe roadway, wherein the operation parameters are indicative to anoperation of the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truckmaneuvers on the roadway; detecting a plurality of electric deliverytruck control inputs associated with an operation of the electricdelivery truck as the electric delivery truck maneuvers along theroadway, wherein the electric delivery truck control inputs aregenerated from an of the electric delivery truck; and automaticallyadjusting the operation of the electric delivery truck as the electricdelivery truck maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation ofthe electric delivery truck within an operation threshold based on thedetected operation parameters and the electric truck control inputs,wherein the operation threshold is the operation of the electricdelivery truck that is maintained within an overall power storage of theelectric delivery truck thereby enabling the electric delivery truck toexecute a route by consuming power stored in the overall power storageof the electric delivery truck.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein thedetecting of the plurality of operation parameters comprises: detectinga plurality of visual detection operation parameters that are associatedwith the electric delivery truck as the electric delivery truckmaneuvers along the roadway, wherein the visual detection operationparameters are driving parameters that are visually identifiable asdetected by the imaging device and are indicative to the drivingenvironment that the electric delivery truck is operating.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the automatic adjusting of the operation ofthe electric delivery truck comprises: identifying an object positionedin a drive path of the electric delivery truck as the electric deliverytruck maneuvers along the roadway; instructing an electric motorincluded in the electric delivery truck to transition from operating ina drive mode to a reverse mode to thereby transition the electric motorfrom operating as the electric motor to operating as an electricgenerator in response to the identification of the object positioned inthe drive path; and automatically decreasing the speed of the electricdelivery truck due to the electric motor removing power that isavailable to accelerate the electric delivery truck to storing thecaptured power in the overall power storage of the electric deliverytruck thereby triggering the speed of the electric delivery truck toautomatically decrease, wherein the automatic decrease in speed enablesa driver of the electric delivery truck to avoid the object positionedin the drive path of the electric delivery truck.
 18. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the automatic adjusting of the operation of theelectric delivery truck further comprises: identifying a position of theelectric delivery truck as detected in real-time relative to a laneincluded in the roadway that the electric delivery truck is maneuvering;determining when the position of the electric delivery truck deviatesbeyond a lane center threshold in real-time, wherein the lane centerthreshold is the position of the electric delivery truck relative to acenter position of the lane that when deviated beyond is indicative thatthe position of the electric delivery truck is deviating from the lanethat the electric delivery truck is maneuvering; and automaticallyalerting the driver that the position of the electric delivery truck isdeviated beyond the lane center threshold indicating to the driver thatthe driver is to adjust the position of the electric delivery truck tobe within the lane center threshold.
 19. The method of claim 18, whereinthe detecting of the plurality of operation parameters furthercomprises: capturing a speed limit posted by a speed limit sign that ispositioned on a segment of the roadway that the electric delivery truckis currently operating.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein theautomatic adjusting of the electric delivery truck further comprises:identifying the speed limit associated with the segment of the roadwaythat the electric delivery truck is currently operating as captured fromthe speed limit sign positioned on the segment of the roadway that theelectric delivery truck is currently operating; automatically adjust aspeed of the electric delivery truck to prevent the speed of theelectric delivery truck form exceeding the speed limit associated withthe segment of the roadway that the electric delivery truck is currentlyoperating; and automatically adjust the speed of the electric deliverytruck as the speed associated with the segment of the roadway that theelectric delivery truck is currently operating as the speed limitcaptured by the imaging device from the speed limit sign changes toprevent the speed of the electric delivery truck from exceeding thespeed limit associated with the segment of the roadway that the electricdelivery truck is currently operating changes.
 21. The method of claim15, wherein the detecting of the plurality of operation parametersfurther comprises: detecting an acceleration of the electric deliverytruck as the electric delivery truck operates.
 22. The method of claim21, wherein the automatic adjusting of the operation of the electricdelivery truck further comprises: determining whether the accelerationof the electric delivery truck decreases below an accelerationthreshold, wherein a decrease below the acceleration threshold isindicative that a first electric motor is deactivated and a secondelectric motor is activated to drive the electric delivery truck as theelectric delivery truck operates; automatically activating the firstelectric motor and maintain the activation of the second electric motorfor the first electric motor and the second electric motor to generateenergy converted from kinetic energy generated from the operation of theelectric delivery truck when operating below the acceleration threshold;and storing the energy generated by the first electric motor and thesecond electric motor that is converted from the kinetic energygenerated from the operation of the electric delivery truck whenoperating below the acceleration threshold in a battery management unitassociated with the electric delivery truck.
 23. The method of claim 15,wherein the detecting of the plurality of operation parameters furthercomprises: detecting an adjusted acceleration that corresponds to anadjusted position of an accelerator pedal based on the driver attemptingto increase a current acceleration with the adjusted position of theaccelerator pedal.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the automaticadjusting of the operation of the electric delivery truck furthercomprises: determining whether the adjusted acceleration thatcorresponds to the adjusted position of the accelerator pedal exceeds anacceleration threshold, wherein the acceleration threshold when exceededis indicative that the driver is attempting to increase the currentacceleration in a decreased duration that is detrimental to operation ofthe electric delivery truck; and automatically adjusting the operationof the electric delivery truck to map a gradual acceleration that limitsthe increase in the current acceleration to an increased duration thatmaintains the adjusted acceleration within the acceleration thresholdthat is not detrimental to the operation of the electric delivery truck.25. The method of claim 24, further comprising: identifying atopographical location of the electric delivery truck based on a currenttopography of the driving environment that the electric delivery truckis operating on the roadway; determining whether the current topographyassociated with the topography location of the electric delivery truckexceeds a topography threshold, wherein the topography threshold whenexceeded is indicative that the current topography of the drivingenvironment that the electric delivery truck is operating is increasedthereby requiring increased power to be provided by the overall powerstorage of the electric delivery truck to assist the electric deliverytruck in operating the increased current topography; and automaticallyadjusting power provided to the electric motor from the overall powerstorage to increase the power provided to the electric motor toaccommodate for the increased current topography that exceeds thetopography threshold.
 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:determining whether the current topography associated with thetopography location of the electric delivery truck deviates below thetopographical threshold, wherein the topography threshold when deviatedbelow is indicative that the current topography of the drivingenvironment that the electric delivery truck is operating is decreasedthereby requiring decreased power to be provided by the overall powerstorage of the electric delivery truck; and automatically adjusting thepower provided to the electric motor from the overall current powerstorage to decrease the power provided to the electric motor to enableadditional power to be stored by the overall power storage therebyenabling an increase in duration that the electric delivery truckoperates due to the additional power stored in the overall powerstorage.
 27. The method of claim 15, further comprising: detecting aplurality of battery management inputs associated with an overallbattery efficiency of the electric delivery truck as the electricdelivery truck maneuvers along the roadway, wherein the batterymanagement inputs are generated from a consumption of power from theoverall power storage of the electric delivery truck as the electricdelivery truck operates.
 28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:automatically adjusting the operation of the electric delivery truck asthe electric delivery truck control inputs as the electric deliverytruck maneuvers along the roadway to maintain the operation of theelectric delivery truck within the operation threshold based on thedetected battery management inputs and the electric delivery truckcontrol inputs and thereby increase the overall battery efficiency ofthe electric delivery truck when executing the route by consuming powerstored in the overall power storage of the electric delivery truck.